Detectives trying to identify a man who was stabbed to death and pushed over cliffs in a plastic barrel have made a major breakthrough.

The victim's body was found at the bottom of Beachy Head in January with his arms and legs bound and a plastic bag over his head.

Police believe he had been murdered elsewhere in a gangland-style execution, then taken to the notorious suicide spot and rolled off a 450ft cliff.

Officers say they have now matched the man's DNA with blood found at an empty restaurant.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony O'Donnell, who is leading the Sussex Police investigation, renewed appeals for information to help identify the black man, who was aged between 20 and 35.

The DNA was matched with blood found in an unoccupied takeaway restaurant in Brixton, south London.

Mr O'Donnell said: "From our point of view it is a major breakthrough in our inquiries.

"We had believed that our victim possibly came from the south London area and now this confirms it to us.

"We believe he was living in this area. We need to know his name - I believe that people out there must know him. Someone must be missing him."

The DNA sample was taken from a "fair-sized" pool of blood found on a chair at the back of the Hellshire Chat-Bout Jamaican Best Food Takeaway in Loughborough Road.

The sample was taken on February 17 when Metropolitan Police officers executed a warrant on the premises in relation to an unrelated matter.

Mr O'Donnell said the restaurant was believed to have been empty since the end of January.

The owner had been leasing the building and police are now attempting to trace the lessees.

Mr O'Donnell said he believed it was "most likely" the man was murdered in the restaurant but he refused to comment further.

Asked about a possible motive, he said he could only speculate.

He added: "We do know that our victim was a frequent cocaine user. It may well be that drugs are a possible motive for this."

The dead man was 5ft 9in and had an Afro hairstyle which could have been tied in braids. He was slim and had one scar on his right brow and another, 8.5cm long, running from his nose to his left ear.

He had an upper dental plate consisting of eight teeth and detectives are appealing for dentists who might remember treating him to come forward.

When the man was found he was wearing a black fleece jacket, with the logo Performance Wear, and blue Vitello jeans.

Scenes of crime officers were searching the restaurant for further clues yesterday.

Sussex and Metropolitan officers are working together on the murder investigation, codenamed Operation Dundee.

They have commissioned tests of the strontium levels in the victim's bones in the hope of identifying whether he came from the Caribbean, Africa or Britain.

Police believe the murder took place on or around January 14.